It was great to see some of our old favorites and quite a few new ones. For a long time I’ve been partial to French wines and I was deeply disappointed that Château Guiraud is currently not available as a kosher wine. On the other hand, Château PiadaSauternes 2006, another delightful Sauternes – considerably lower priced than the Guiraud – is better than ever. Everybody agreed on this one! This is a light bronzed gold colored, delicate yet full bodied wine, wonderfully perfumed with honey, crystallized orange peel, apricot and pineapple, on the palate its sweetness is balanced with a racy acidity. Another favorite that never disappoints is Château Pontet-CanetPaulliac 2004, I’d tasted the 2003 many a time and described it on these pages, ahhh!

In 2009, I was introduced to Biniamyna‘s The Cave by my good friend, winemakerAsaf Paz. Since then The Cave – Hamaara, has become a favorite and the new vintage (2007) they introduced at the show certainly did not disappoint. Deep garnet in color, on the nose it has strong tones of blackberry and chocolate, full-bodied, with subtly gripping notes of spicy wood it all comes together with currant, blackberry and citrus peel notes. Leaves you with a long finish filled with appealing hints of licorice. As far as I’m concerned The Cave is Israel’s top wine, certainly my favorite and SYR fully agrees with me on this one!

My favorite champagne Drappier Carte Blanche was among the French selections I’ve sipped, and this tasting further cemented everything I wrote about it before. I also enjoyed tremendously the Drappier Carte d’Or. It’s got a rich bronzed gold color, with sweet briar on the nose quickly giving way to white peaches, on the palate it shows ripe fruits like peach and apricot with a delightful but very subtle hint of Austrian pastry, all leading to a very long finish.

I didn’t get to taste as many wines as I liked (and this post is starting to get a bit longer than my usual ones), as I was taping this evening’s radio show but both Geila Hocherman and SYR tell me that I must at least mention the Shiloh Chardonnay2009, which both found flavorful, fruity and with just the right balance of sweetness and acidity. Being partial to elegant French wines they loved the Baron Edmond de Rothschild Haut Medoc 2006, with notes of blackberries and tobacco on the palate with a long finish. An oak aged blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. It is a medium bodied, dark ruby in color, with soft tannins and gentle wood integrating nicely to show a generous array of cassis, red and black berry fruits with hints of fine herbs, all on an appealingly spicy background. I’ve had this wine before and I have to fully agree with their assessment.

So many incredible wines, so little time… Tomorrow we will discuss the food experience at this event.